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CHARLES VERO, OF ATHERSTONE, COUNTY OF \VARXVICK, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES EVERITT, OF SAME PLACE.

MANUFACTURE OF FELT HATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 351,226, dated October 19 1886.

Application filed June 7, 1886. Serial No. 204,416.

To (LU whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES VERo, a sub ject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Atherstone, in the county of Varwick, England, felt-hat manufacturer, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Felt Hats, of which the follow ing is a specification.

This invention has for its objectimprovements in the manufacture of felt hat-s.

I make the upper part and crown of the hat and the brim of the hat of different materials, and in the operations of felting or hardening I combine these into one fabric. Usually I make the crown and upper part entirely of fur, while the brim I make of wool. \Vool may, however, in some cases, be mixed with the fur of which the crown and upper part are formed, and, on the other hand, the wool forming the brim may, in some cases, be plaited with fur, or a proportion of fur may be mixed with the wool of which the brim is made; but in all cases the material which I employ for the crown and upper part is different from that for the brim, and the two a're thoroughly combined into one fabric in the operation of felting or hardening.

The way in which. I prefer to operate is as follows: I first blow the for to form the crown and upper part of the hat onto a perforated cone, from the interior of which air is exhausted, as is usual in the manufacture of hats entirely of fur; but I accumulate the fur onto a smaller surface than would be necessary if the hat were to be entirely of this material. I then proceed, as usual, to wrap cloths around the fur upon the cone and to place a metal cover over it. Vhile the fur is so held I saturate it and the cloths wrapped around it with water. The fur can then be removed without injury. .V hen several fur crowns have been thus produced, they are formed into a bundle and manipulated in the usual way to give sufficient consistence to the material to enable it to hold together when dry. The crowns are then dried and placed on one side. For the brim of the hat I accumulate a bat of wool coming from a carding-engine onto a double cone in the manner usual in making woolen hats, except that no care is requisite to cover the ends of the double cone. IVhen sufficient (No specimens.)

wool has been accumulated, it is cut off from the cones in the usual way, and so two brims are formed, and they are trimmed into shape. The fur crown is now brought to the brim and is placed in position so as to overlap it, the materials being, if desired, thinned to some extent where they overlap at the band, to prevent too great a thickness at this part. An inlayer or separating fabric is now put inside the hat-body, and this is then worked in a machine known as a fiat hardener, which commences the felting in the center portion of thebody with outpressin g upon the tip or the folded or doubled edges. Under this treatment the fur crown immediately unites with the woolen brim. After a short time the inlayer or separating fabric is removed from the interior, the hat-body is crozed or refolded, the

inlayer is again inserted, and the operation is repeated, so a complete union between the fur crown and the woolen brim is effected all .round the hat-body. The operations of completing the hat are then as usual.

A like result may be obtained by blowing a brim of a mixture of wool and fur onto the cone, and at a separate operation blowing fur onto the cone to form the upper part and crown of the hat, this upper portion of the cone having previously been kept bare by any suitable covering.

It will be seen that my improvement in felt hats, consisting in independently forming the crown and brim and felting them together, differs cssentiall y from the heretofore prae tieed method of separately making the crown and the brim and then uniting thcnr by sewing, or by eyelets or by cement.

I claim 1. Afelt hat consisting of the independentlyformed crown and brim, of different materials, united into one by felting them together, substantially as set forth.

2. A felt hat having a crown or upper part of fur or fine material and a brimof wool or coarser material, the two combined and forming one continuous felted fabric, substantially as set forth.

CHARLES VERO.

Witnesses:

THOMAS MARsroN, ALBERT SMITH. 

